Implications of a rationalist inductive approach in System of Systems Engineering research

System of systems engineering (SoSE) is a rapidly growing discipline that has emerged in response to increasingly complex situations. Complexity arises from the use of reducible perspectives on irreducible problems, from emergence, and other sources that serve to create uncertainty. As these factors violate or challenge fundamental assumptions of systems engineering, new approaches to deal with new problems have been developed. Similarly, complex situations inherently provide challenges for research. Traditional management and engineering research approaches, which are based largely on empiricist paradigms, face serious limitations when addressing complex problems. It is argued in this paper that additional paradigms are needed supported by appropriate methodologies. The rationalist inductive approach is discussed in detail, guidelines for a modeling based rationalist inductive approach are presented, and the implications for SoSE are addressed.